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According to the Promise
~ a reflection by Rev. Karla delivered 7.20.10
Click on Scripture to read: Galatians 3:23 - 29 and Luke 8:26 - 39
Our experiences of visits can vary widely.
The expected arrival of a new baby to a family is often a highly anticipated and joy filled experience, but the unexpected visit of members of the military to a home whose child is serving in war on foreign soil is always feared for it often means the child is at best severely wounded; and at worst, deceased.
Yes, our experiences with visits can vary widely dependent upon who is doing the visiting...
What if Jesus came to visit? What would you do?
How would you feel with a visit from Jesus? Would you be excited and honored, perhaps making preparations similar to those made for the President when he travels to different cities, states, and countries?
Would you be comforted and uplifted by the possibility of a visit from one who is loving and kind as Jesus? Would you be anxious and uneasy, maybe hurrying to do some extra cleaning and straightening of the house? Would you prepare a special meal? Perhaps buy a new outfit?
What would you do if Jesus came to visit?
In our text Jesus pays a visit to the country of the Gerasenes, a Gentile region across the Sea of Galilee. He comes as he always does in Luke's Gospel with the authority and power of God's in-breaking reign of love and justice. When Jesus comes to visit, it is no longer business as usual. When Jesus is present, people and conditions are challenged, upset, transformed. The call for justice, by Jesus, is second nature for the disenfranchised outcast.
His visit, therefore, to the Gerasenes makes quite an impact.
Almost before he can get off the boat, Jesus is met by a man described as demon possessed. The man is buck naked. He appears to be crazed....being without clothing and all in a culture that strongly supported the wearing of clothing in public places...would make one appear crazy...in my opinion.
He comes at Jesus from his home in the cemetery, of all places, he lived among the dead; and he is shouting at Jesus to leave him alone, not to torment him. I sometimes wonder who tormented him more-the demons or those who were supposed to be his community-who housed him among the dead?
We learn as the story unfolds that it is not really the man who speaks to Jesus, but the demons who are bargaining with Jesus. In a dramatic scene Jesus sends these demons to their destruction and restores the man to health and wholeness.
And here is the transforming power of God at work, but is that transformation and healing only in the absence of the disease...could it also be in the management of mental dis-ease? Could it also mean the possibility of healthier community?
At some level, one must conclude, that this naked, vulnerable man who lived among the dead wanted to alive. He was choosing to seek healing to turn his life around...even though he was afraid; and trying to chase Jesus away at the same time he running toward him...
The dramatic change in this troubled man's life is the kind of transformation sung about by U2 in the song "When Love Comes to Town." The verses tell the story of a life marked by betrayal, confusion, and losses, a life changed when it is confronted by a great robust love...
I was a sailor, I was lost at sea
I was under the waves
Before love rescued me
I was a fighter, I could turn on a thread
Now I stand accused of the things I've said
"I did what I did before love came to town," says the chorus.
I was there when they crucified my Lord
I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword
I threw the dice when they pierced his side
But I've seen love conquer the great divide
"I did what I did before love came to town." Yes, love did come to town, and the singer's life was changed according to the promises. The healed man might well have sung this song, and I imagine Luke featuring it in his hymnbook.
The reactions to the visit of this powerful Jesus are swift and intense. The demons realize immediately that they are in the presence of a power greater than their own. They represent the forces of evil and oppression that are active in our lives, in our community, and in the world; and these forces always tremble when they come before the dynamic presence of God's reign of love.
The reaction of the people in the area to the healing of their neighbor is, though, to me what is most striking. You might think that they would be happy that this man who made them so uncomfortable by his condition is now sane and whole.
So will the community throw a party to celebrate this miracle of salvation or hurry to bring to Jesus other friends in need of healing? Neither...there is no party, no celebration. Luke says they are seized with a great fear. Eugene Peterson translates in The Message; they are "in a state of panic."
They are scared and they ask Jesus to leave their community.
It still seems like an odd response to those of us who don't think of Jesus as fearful. Why are they scared? Maybe they're fearful that if Jesus hangs around they will have to change how they are living.
I have seen many a person choose to keep their dysfunction as something they wore as close as their own skin unwilling to change afraid of the unknown...clinging tight to the broken.
And then there is the unsettling power of Jesus that extends to pocketbooks and economic systems as Christian ministers from Paul on have discovered. After all, this community saw Jesus send a big part of the local economy to destruction in the lake. For some the cost of health and safety is just too great...until the well brakes.
But the fear of these people may be about more than the possibility of no longer having a job. If Jesus has power over the forces of the world that oppress and bind, if Jesus can heal somebody like the long suffering man in the text, destroying a hog farm in the process, what might he do next?
Who is safe from such a power? And what if I don't want to see my life upset but prefer to remain in my comfortable, familiar patterns of dysfunctional living.
This is where the profession of a faith in Jesus and the actualization of the faith often part ways-I like calling myself a Christian, but do not want to change-so Jesus, go away from my home and my church, okay? I'll just wear a bracelet with your name on it, but not live as if I mean it...change is too hard.
There is a parable about a farmer who had a few animals he kept in a barn-a barn-that had gotten old, drafty, and leaky. Concerned for his animals' wellbeing, the farmer decided to build a new barn. He built a fine new barn, tore down the old one, and was comforted to know his animals were now safe and dry. One day a storm came through the area. The farmer decided to look in on his animals, and he was shocked to discover that the barn door had been left unlatched, and all of the animals had left the new barn and were huddled beneath the storm within the foundations of the old, familiar barn. It is easier to hold on to what we know than to face the new.
Where, my dear people are you struggling to face the new in your life? Where is it paramount to pray for you to get a much needed visit so that the Spirit may lead you through much needed change?
In their song "Closing Time," the rock group Semisonic has a line that goes, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." Last Sunday I shared before the Benediction that this Sunday-June 20th-would mark a new beginning for Imago Dei Metropolitan Community Church.
My hope is that today will mark a new beginning for you because when Jesus comes to visit, he comes with a possibility of new beginnings; and for that transformation and healing to be fully realized it will mean the end of something, the exorcism of old ways of behaving must pass for a new day to dawn in this community.
For the Gerasenes, it was too much to risk. Will it be too much of a risk for Imago Dei MCC? They asked Jesus to leave afraid of the new possibilities. What will you do, Imago Dei MCC, will you ask Jesus to leave because you are afraid or will you seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit because you have hope?
I have every confidence that you will accept the risks and make the changes to live into a new day according to the promises.
But let it be noted that the fear of the new is not unknown to any person or group of people. We see it in churches and individuals that cling to old patterns of living, even when it is clear that those old patterns are not life-giving; and when Jesus comes to visit, we just might ask him to leave like the Gerasenes, afraid of what he might do to our familiar ways.
One way we get Jesus to leave is by taming him, by turning him into someone who is kind and gentle, one who never gets too upset, and who is not a threat to anyone...like a beaten puppy without any spirit or vitality...a Jesus who isn't allowed to lead, but rather is led.
Dorothy Sayers has written about this domestication of Jesus. She writes:
The people who hanged Christ...never accused him of being a bore. On the contrary, they thought him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up the shadowing personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have very efficiently defanged and declawed the lion of Judea, certified him "meek and mild," and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies.
Such a tamed Jesus leaves us unhealed and protects us from nothing, not even our worst selves should we fall into playing church rather than being the CHURCH ALIVE led by Christ.
The community was afraid of Jesus, but there is one other reaction to Jesus' visit in our story, and that is of the man who was healed. This powerful Jesus has given him back his life. From a naked, howling, tormented man who lived in the graveyard, he has been changed to one who sits at the feet of Jesus clothed and in his right mind.
Astounding! No wonder he might be singing with U2.
The healed man is so grateful that he pleads to be allowed to go with Jesus back to Galilee, but at Jesus' direction this healed man becomes an apostle to his hometown, bursting with the good news of what Jesus has done for him.
If fear would be this community's response to the power of Jesus and to the possibility of new life, I imagine the man saying,
"I understand your fear, but don't be too quick to send Jesus away...and please don't domesticate the message of Good News...and won't you consider joining with me in declaring this Good News according to the promises! I wouldn't go back to who I was before Jesus came for anything, any reason, or anyone. Just trust Jesus to make the best of your life."
You never know when or where Jesus is going to turn up. I have no doubt he is gearing up for a special visit with an offer of healing and new life; and with the power to make it happen according to the promise! Get ready, Imago Dei MCC, get ready...amen!
Just a Little Bit...
Scripture Passages for this Reflection
God and the Devil were walking down a path one day when God spotted something sparkling beautiful by the side of the path. God was so drawn to it that She picked it up and held it in Her hand. There within her palm She gazed at the beauty of it and said, "Ah, Truth!"
Before a second passed by the Devil snatched it and said, "Here, give it to me and I will organize it!"
Shall we pray? Great God, for your involvement in human affairs, we thank you. For the reality that we can live each day in communion with you and in prayer with you, we thank you. And so this day we ask that you speak to our lives through this story, through this experience, and may we be better people for having been with you. In the name of Christ, we pray, Amen...
I asked our musicians to exchange our usual Gloria with this unusual selection of just a little bit. When I read through the Scripture passage the phrase just a little bit popped into my thoughts; and when this happens I try to find out if it is God talking to me for you see I had never heard of this song or this artist as the Google search took me to a YOUTUBE video: just a little bit by Maria Mena.
In the words of our artist, this young woman sings about the challenges of many teens-particularly teenage women in our culture-who are often given messages of deceit clothed and organized by the Devil as truth...
just a little bit stronger + just a little bit wiser + just a little less needy
and maybe i'd get there
just a little bit pretty + just a little more aware + just a little bit thinner
and maybe i'd get there
clearly, clearly i remember hiking up my skirt
and asking for your time
Somehow she isn't good enough for those to appreciate her for who she is and the gifts she possesses and so...she feels she needs just a little bit more of something...
Have you been there...are you there...thinking you aren't worthy enough, but maybe just maybe you'll get there...? If so, have you found yourself-out of your space of insecurity-judging others as not good enough?
Is it too bold of a statement for me to say that we send that message to others all the time...that they aren't quite good enough...they aren't talented enough or pretty enough or a good enough leader because that is how we feel when we look into the mirror; and we'll pontificate on our opinions of them all over the place...just like our disciples who first walked with the Master of Love.
Yes, indeed, sometimes we see people through negative images. We see people only by the wrong they do (or the wrong we think they do, not to mention the wrong we are told that they do-whether true or not-and never by any good they have embodied in the world.
When our way of looking at anyone becomes one-sided we tend then to miss what is righteous in them or what good they do. This is what we see in this narrative in Luke. The disciples look at this woman who came to see Jesus through her status as defined by the larger community, the community called her a sinner...as if they, too, weren't sinners!
This story of anointing by the woman was read today out of the Gospel of Luke, but it shows up in 3 out-of 4 of our Gospels. In Mark, we learn that Judas is so angered by Jesus' actions loving acceptance toward this woman that he begins to plot the Messiah's arrest by the Chief Priest. And in Matthew we learn that all of disciples, and not just Judas, is angered by the acceptance of this woman by Jesus.
When a story shows up as often as this, it is understood by scholars to be significant to the early Christians. What is this stories significance to us today? Is it that we may act no better than these disciples sometimes; and if that is the point, to call us out; and if called out, then what do we do?
Funny thing is about this woman-neither they, nor we-know the story behind the story. All we know is someone else's story of her-she is a sinner, a prostitute-right? But is that her story, really; or is it what is projected upon her by those who judge?
Did you know that in the cultural context of Jesus, a husband was the super-ordinate with all the rights in a marriage, while the woman was the sub-ordinate; and if the husband wanted a divorce, then the woman may be left with nothing, not even family should the divorce be perceived as a mark of shame?
She could end up on the streets with no one and no place. It is possible to understand Jesus' prohibition on divorce as a social justice act to protect the women since they were ultimately only a resource or a commodity to be exchanged among the male-head of families.
So with this in mind, did she choose that life (if that was her life) or was it placed upon her-as desperate choices for desperate times---the disciples don't know because they don't know her; and neither do we, but judgment sure does come easy.
It can even feel really good to arrange truth to our advantage as we may foolishly saddle up next to the Devil and say, "please let me help you arrange that pretty truth."
And then there is Jesus...Jesus is seeking to help these disciples relate to people another way...a better way...a more loving way. We forget that Jesus wants to give life to the disenfranchised-as well as those who unwittingly in their ignorance side with the devil of destruction that tears down teenage girls just little bit, churches just a little bit and community...just a little bit each time until too tired or torn up in side to fight anymore for justice.
I bet this woman was so tired of the judging that anointing Jesus was her way of reaching so desperately to someone who would love her without using her or abusing her.
Jesus went beyond this woman's status in community or any wrong she may or may not have been guilty of. He saw her as the beautiful child of God; and her good deeds. Jesus saw the faith desire of this woman. He saw the woman as one who showed him love, as one who had the faith to believe that he could help her. He honored her faith.
Do we offer this same gift of grace and hope...in the name of Christ as Christ's Disciples? Do you? Do you honor each other's faith journey that is going forward...encouraging each to grow? I hope so...
In one group experience folks were asked to share who was a teacher that changed their life; and one person had this experience to share:
She says the classroom in which her teacher was teaching was located on the side of the building where a main thoroughfare of the city ran. Traffic was constant, including the sound of emergency vehicles, throughout each day. At the beginning of each class, the teacher would complain to the students about the noise from the traffic. The emergency vehicles especially annoyed him with their sirens.
After one weekend, the teacher addressed the class at the beginning as he usually did. This day he said he wanted to apologize to the class. He told them that this weekend his wife had an emergency situation. The service that the ambulance provided saved his wife's life and his baby's life. He told his students, "I want to apologize because I was listening to the noise instead of thinking about the lives."
How easy it is to think about oneself before thinking about others...the antithesis of a Jesus-way-of-life...but a way that many of us choose almost as default...think of self, and judge others.
clearly, clearly i remember + nervous if ever confronted
and questioning myself
oh perhaps, perhaps if i got better + perhaps if i challenged myself perhaps if i was...
just a little bit stronger + just a little bit wiser + just a little less needy and maybe i'd get there
Insecure, the girl thinks about herself...which can lead to insecure adults...thinking about themselves....to the detriment of others, such as...
The disciples who looked at a sinner in the community; they did not see the woman who was reaching out for help; and who was more than a sinner, but also gifted, beautiful, talented and able to add so much vitality to the beloved community Christ who was/is creating among all disciples of every age a beloved community even here, Imago Dei!
In his external world, the teacher heard noise. The experience with his wife and child caused him to inwardly see that lives were being cared for by those noisy vehicles. As a result of his experience, he gained a better perspective of his experiences with the emergency vehicles; and a healthier perspective for community...that everything wasn't about him!
He apologized to his students, which is something that a person with great character will do...own up when they mess up, and gain wisdom...they name it, own it, and teach others to not do the same. That teacher taught his students an invaluable life-lesson.
What is the life-lesson that Jesus is seeking to birth into each of us today? What truth do you need that isn't being rearranged by the Devil?
Jesus is helping these disciples, and us, to see that there are lives that need care. We are to be the hands of Christ. And yet, sometimes the "noises" of selfish desires, self-centered desires, greed, or bigotry, keep us from seeing beyond the sin or the inaccurately perceived experiences of life.
The opportunity we have is that of seeing Jesus' way of seeing people, seeing the possibilities for righteousness in them, forgiving them when they fall short, holding them to a standard of reconciliation that includes accountability; and encouraging them to go in peace even if they do not treat you with the same kindness and care you just gave to them...
Life experiences, like the one our teacher had, can change the way we see life. The way we interpret life experiences can help us to see God's way of viewing...can help us see Truth according to Christ.
Jesus would say to his disciples, as well as those gathered around any table in judgment, "Do you see this person?!?" Do you see them with my eyes of love? Just a little bit?
May we, disciples, see just a little bit more with the eyes and heart of our Risen Christ...
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
13If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
From Groaning Pains to Growing Pains
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words....so goes the story of this most ancient of myths about the human condition in relationship with the Divine...there was a unity amidst the people; and they shared a common vision, but it was NOT God's vision...
They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
To build, the people used brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar. They used "man-made" materials, instead of more durable "God-made" material ls.
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves
The people were building a monument to themselves calling attention to their own abilities & achievements, instead of giving glory to God.
Sad...so sad is the day that a people become so fixated on themselves that they are unable to follow the vision of the God, let alone worship the Creator...the people of Babel lacked integrity.
What is integrity? It is character, ethics, and morals. Integrity is also the state of being whole and undivided; and the condition of being unified, unimpaired, or of sound construction.
These people were unified in opposition to God's vision and mission, which, if left unchecked would bring chaos. They were dysfunctional.
What is dysfunction? The imperfect ability in someone or some group that is so great that when exerted it causes more problems or a great gap than it solves.
Babel personifies dysfunction and the absence of integrity. And so...
5The Lord came down to see...And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7Come let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech."
Was the Lord jealous or concerned? No and yes. NO, not jealous for as the Creator, God knew their limitations even when they did not know their own; and God also knew the damage they could do...
YES, concerned by the potential harm they would cause themselves and all creation because of their great ego and superior arrogance...forgetting their limitations...and failing to worship the Creator...they were on the path to chaos.
Today I find myself thinking about the Gulf...
In this moment, Babel framed their theology and religious practices, their spending habits and precious time to serve, not to the call of God, but their own needs placing themselves above God forgetting they were the creatures; and not the Creator. Their plans would fall one way or another because they were worshiping themselves rather than God, who upon seeing this all, chose to derail their plans.
8So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth and they left off building the city...
The Tower of Babel...it is a mythical & ethical story about division & confusion...about being unwilling to listen to God; and so the people are left unable to understand one another...and scattered.
I doubt that we shall hear any politician anytime soon chanting drill, baby, drill!
Are you able to recognize when a people is scattered because of their unwillingness to listen to God and to follow the will of God?
It begins with the unity of a few who turn toward their own business and busyness rather than the greater purposes of God. Such plans always fall apart...plans that seek to place the creatures above the Creator!
The Apostle Paul noted this as sin in Romans 1...an infamous passage for queers to be wary of, but not because of same-gender love so often erroneously given as the reason. No, listen carefully to the text:
God gave them up...because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator! (Romans 1:25)
Come let us make bricks and let us build for ourselves a city...and let us make a name for ourselves...and God scattered them in their Babel...because they tried to be god! Babel lacked integrity! Babel was dysfunctional! The people tried to be their own god...
And so begins the saga of every age of every race and culture...a statement about the human condition...we so often wrestle with life between integrity and dysfunction. We do sometimes try to be our gods in the name of God to justify our agendas and actions, words and deeds...this is anything but noble or just...when words wound and community scatters...
But then a word of hope comes with those who have ears to hear...eyes to see...and a tongue to confess...Jesus Christ is risen today!
Jesus Christ is risen today!
And yet, the ultimate challenge for all of us is to live as if we truly believe it...to live in faith rather than fear...to build up rather than tear down...these have not been easy times for our nation or our church even though (and especially since) Jesus Christ is risen today.
I am mindful of an eight year presidency whose foundational faith message was fear - be afraid of much - arm your selves! Our church groaned for growth in a culture being conditioned to be afraid.
Have our behaviors been so shaped by the culture that we default to fear rather than faith? I hope not....for Jesus Christ is risen today!
I am equally mindful that our current president ran on a message of hope that he testifies to the power of hope over and over again...a foundational faith message firmly planted in hope with the God of his understanding and a great nation to which felt called to serve:
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrew 11:1)
Hope comes with those who have ears to hear...eyes to see...and a tongue to confess...Jesus Christ is risen today! Do you have eyes to see what is just and ears to hear what is truth and a tongue to confess God's vision? (let me repeat this...)
It is a question worthy for prayerful reflection.
# # #
Today is the day the church celebrates Pentecost!
Pentecost embodies the opposite of Babel. It is the birth of the church-the body of Christ-believers who place God's vision and mission before their own worshiping the Creator over the creatures.
Hear the words of our author Luke strengthen the seam within the fabric of grace-between the inward focused message of building up community through the Gospel of Luke to the outward focused message of our minding our business by being witnesses to the world in the Acts of the Apostles:
When the day of Pentecost had come,
they were all together in one place...
The disciples becoming apostles were not scattered across the face of the earth as in the days of Babel!
And suddenly from heaven...
Our source of life-our Creator-seeks out our lost selves!
...there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind...
The Spirit, which comes to tear down walls and build up hope!
...and it filled the entire house where they were sitting!
Oh, Spirit of Fire how I pray you blow through us today!
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave ability.
Did you hear? Where once the people unified for their own gains were divided in Babel, The Spirit united this diverse people for one purpose...they were ready and willing to serve their Lord-Our God---The Most High-Almighty One-Great Redeemer-Alpha & Omega-are we ready to serve this God, too?
Are we ready to leave behind groaning pains and embrace growing pains? The Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman Church...
12Brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.
...A spirit of adoption - adoption - let me close out with a focus on this important word - adoption - in two areas (the theology of Paul and practice for Jesus follower):
First, we are adopted into God's Household-the Apostle Paul's makes this point with his words to the Roman congregation...
19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; [and] 31If God is for us, who is against us? 35 Who will separate us from the love of God? [No, nothing] 37,39b...will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord
Second, as Children of God adopted into the Household, we are, as witnesses of Christ, called to adopt practices which tear down walls and build up hope...two practices for us to adopt that acknowledge transformation from Babel to Pentecost are this...we are to be a community that leaves behind dysfunction and embrace integrity.
Though the people of Babel were irresponsible for their words or deeds, we as People of the Pentecost who align our will with the will of the Holy Spirit are to be responsible with our words and deeds.
May we endure the growing pains of being responsible with our lips through adopting the practice of speaking in ways that build up our community for Christ's sake?
May we embrace the growing pains of being responsible with our ears through adopting the practice of reflective listening-seeking to hear God speak; and seeking to learn the stories of our neighbors so that we grow closer together?
May we engender the growing pains of being a people of hope responsible with our call to look toward our Redeemer who beckons us forth to be witnesses in the world?
Today is Pentecost; and may we be Church filled with the Spirit! Amen.
Cling Free, Spirit Guide
You get to pick your sermon title today:
Cling Free, Spirit Guide In honor of Rev. Berry, I am adding a second title option... Mind Your Own Business
click on Scripture reference to read entire passage "...you are witnesses..." "...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit...and you will be my witnesses..."
Today we focus on the part of the story, which is a turning of the tide.
In our readings for this Ascension Day, we encounter an important shift for those who follow Jesus from being turned inward, focusing on their common life and learning at Jesus' feet, to that same group looking outward to the needs of the world. It is a shift from feed me, tend to me, and serve me to our call to minister to others, serve others as witnesses to our Risen Christ whose message is eternally LOVE.<//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img>
In this way, the Gospel of Luke completes the incoming tide of Jesus' life and ministry and the Acts of the Apostles begins the outgoing tide, which has the gospel flowing forth to the ends of the earth.
The evangelist Luke is the beloved physician who wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. This two-volume set is fully a quarter of the entire New Testament. Our readings for today are at the seam where these two texts overlap to recount the last moments of Jesus' earthly ministry and the genesis of the Christian Church. Through these readings we encounter a dynamic that is important not simply to understanding that point in history, but is vital to our own journey as followers of Jesus.
The Book of Luke begins in the temple in Jerusalem. The gospel begins the Good News of Jesus with the priest, Zechariah, serving in the Holy of Holies. There the angel Gabriel appears with the news that Elizabeth, Zechariah's aged wife who was thought to be barren, will give birth. The son born to Elizabeth and Zechariah is the forerunner, John the Baptist.
The Gospel of Luke will then continually return to the temple, for Jesus' naming, and for his teaching the elders when on a trip with his family at the age of twelve. Then through his ministry, Jesus will return to the temple. Finally the gospel ends with the final verses, "They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God."<//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img>
The temple has a gravitational pull in Luke's gospel; everything is always pulled back to that center. Everything pulls the Christian back to center when our center is Christ-our Sunday worship is to be the re-centering of our lives with Christ (as a community of faithful)-not merely a social encounter with your neighbor over snacks after worship, BUT a re-centering of the ENTIRE Christian community through worship; and the bonus is celebrating our unity over fellowship post-worship.
Do you get the difference? If not, see me afterward....but for now let it be known that Luke's gospel is about the centrality of Worship in the Temple.
Then<//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img> in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke opens in Jerusalem, but move us outward to Judea, Samaria, and while not to the ends of the earth, he will reach to Rome and beyond as the beginning of a global movement to preach, teach, and heal with this message of love.
In Luke, everything was focused inwardly on building up the group. In Acts, that group is shot out from the center point. Pentecost will come like fireworks going off, which sends out a creative and lasting rather than explosive and fleeting force. Ascension Day is the seam that holds those two narratives together. This is where the inward focused turned at Pentecost, toward the outward, ever expansive focus.<//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img>
As anyone who spends any time around me knows, I am a PENTECOST preacher, called by God to call disciples OUT to become apostles. That is my authentic calling; and so...to honor my calling that God gave me...here is accountability questions:
How, Imago Dei MCC, how can each of you speak to honoring the seam that holds the whole fabric of THE MESSAGE together-the inward and the outward-how are you...now this is an accountability question...how are you wearing the whole garment of grace, which means embracing the fullness of being here (in worship) and being out there (in community)...witnesses of love?
It isn't multiple choice, my friends, it is both / and...so how are you personally doing with the both / and call of apostleship?
It is worth pausing for a moment to acknowledge that Ascension Day is a stumbling block for some. They will remark rightly that we know better than to conceive of a three-storied universe with heaven above, hell beneath, and earth sandwiched in the middle. We have pierced the sky, traveled to the moon and are even now being watched over by astronauts working at the international space station. What sense does it make to talk of Jesus disappearing off into the sky, a vanishing point of distance with him ending his earthly ministry?
This knowledge need not distract us, as we know through our own faith journeys that God has a knack for giving us not just what we need, but what we are ready to receive, perhaps today Jesus would simply hit is transponder and say, "I am ready to beamed up Holy Spirit."<//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img>
The disciples, or followers, were becoming apostles, or ones sent out, and they needed Jesus to leave-that is the point-they needed Jesus to leave in such a way that they would not nitpick on each other; and get about the work of the gospel of Jesus, the Risen Christ, which is still a much needed message about love.
Ascension Day accomplished that essential purpose. What do we need today to accomplish this same important purpose?
Let me repeat that in another way, the disciples were becoming apostles; and they needed Jesus to leave in such a way that they would stop HANGING around and get busy with God's purpose of missional ministry.
On all the days leading up to that one, the disciples looked for their Lord. Their lives were centered on Jesus. They were TOO centered on Jesus as Jesus; and not centered enough on their response to living according to God's missional purpose and plan inaugurated through Jesus. Even Jesus wasn't all about Jesus as he, himself, said to those early disciples ""Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, the one who believes in me will also do what I am doing; and will do even greater things than these." (John 14:12)<//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img>
Do you get the difference of being too centered on Jesus rather than centered upon the larger mission that was started by the Jesus? If not, see me afterward....
Knowing more about the heavens doesn't change the truth of Jesus' leaving his earthly ministry to become once more the second person of the Trinity, no longer limited by the incarnation to being in one place at a time. After the ascension, the disciples began to pray and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, which simply can not be bound, nor limited by place/time.
With Pentecost, they were empowered to come out and get out into God's ministry; and yes, I said it the way I meant it...to come out as followers of Jesus even though it would mean facing opposition and possible persecution...called out to be witnesses of God's Love for all people...is that really so hard when God is on your side seeking to be your Holy Spirit Guide? If so, what are the stumbling blocks which need to be dismantled so that you may live into your calling?
Ascension Day worked. With Jesus' ascension into heaven, the disciples had to become apostles. They stopped looking for Jesus here and there, and they began to pray for the Holy Spirit who would be with them always out there. On that day, Jesus' followers were given what they needed to begin to change their focus.<//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img>
I said change their focus. I repeat, change their focus...we, too, have to change our focus!
What would it take for us to change our focus? What would it take for us to stop clinging to matters and ministries we call important, but in actuality keep us distracted from being out there minding our business of living as witnesses of a Risen Christ?<//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img>
What will it take for us to follow our Spirit Guide toward being the apostles we are called out to be testifying to love in words & actions with Christ as center?
After all, it is easy for a church to go from being about the mission of sharing the love of God found in Jesus with a lost and hurting world, to turn our mission stations into clubs-exclusive clubs, criticizing clubs, negative clubs-no less. A church does not exist for its own sake (and no member ministers for their own agenda), but as preparation for those who gather to take part in Christ's work of reconciliation in the world for this is our business to mind; and not to mind someone else's business...<//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img>
The word "member" should probably not even be used to describe aligning oneself with a given congregation. We are not to be members of a club or a church, exclusive or otherwise, as if Jesus' ministry, death, and resurrection were for the purpose of starting a new institution.
The institution of the church exists to further God's mission - reconciling the world to God. We are missionaries working on the front lines of the mission of Christ, which is what we each encounter every where we go. We are members of a movement for love and justice for all people; and those who chose the tools of Christ to get the work done.<//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img>
When more energy is spent on managing others rather than managing our own lives...and when energy is spent on trying to control others rather than live as witnesses in the world, something is amiss, amuck, a damn right shame; and sin worthy of repentance...and if the sin fits, well then, seek reconciliation...in the name of Jesus.
This need to turn outward is so crucial, that it is a good idea to have someone at the end of Eucharist to step up and take the role of the two men robed in white who said, "People of Imago Dei, why do you stand looking at the heavens?" These words were the push the disciples needed to stop focusing on the spot where they last saw Jesus. The words of the angels turned the disciples' gaze outward to a lost and hurting world and so began the shift toward becoming apostles, ones sent forth on a mission.<//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img>
In the close of our service, we do have such a moment, though never two angels dressed up, just one person who reminds us to mind our business...to be witnesses...a missional moment and a sending forth benediction which essentially says, "Alleluia. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord".
This is no idle moment. It is not a wrap up of service, but a get started in serving.
This is an active moment, a push to tell us to stop looking toward the altar - that point where we last saw the Lord. The dismissal is a reminder as our worship service is ending that while the worship of community is finished for now, the service is just beginning. We are sent out from every service to love and serve the Lord through loving and serving others in God's name. This is our seam, like that of Luke to Acts... <//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img> We are sent out to MIND OUR BUSINESS; and our business is the business of Christ to be WITNESSES of love and justice, equality and compassion. Not some of us some of the time, but all of us all of the time.
Most of us do not go out loving and serving the Lord right away or maybe even the right way, but it is never too late to start. It may be more likely that we go out to get something to eat still thinking more about the self rather than the Servant Christ we are to emulate. We'd rather feed our bellies rather than go immediately to serve in a soup kitchen or to console a friend in hospice or one who grieves...
That is fine, I guess, as a completely human reality...but we should not leave worship untransformed...nor should we expect another human to be our transformational jolt of Jesus juice...our Spirit is with us to guide us; and so may we learn how to cling less to attitudes and actions that otherwise counter our call as ministers in the world.<//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img><//img>
This is the transformation of Ascension Day. The tide is turning. Will you swim with the tide or fight it?
Before many minutes pass, we will have been spiritually fed and empowered to act. Flow forth from this place to begin to fulfill that mission anew. This is the day for turning our eyes outward. This is the day for changing our focus to see Christ in the world anew. And having seen we can begin anew to love and serve. May you mind your business with one another...and serve Him!
I wish to transition this time of Scriptural interpretation and reflection to a time of prayer, which is another important seam to have in the garment of grace...please join with me in this Bethany Prayer...understanding that the gospel of Luke closes with Jesus at Bethany...we are at Bethany preparing for Pentecost...so please join with me in this moment of prayer:
Bethany Blessing Prayer
God of Wonder, God of Grace, Hear our prayer today. Pour out your blessing on these your precious children, Pour out your unconditional love and your soul deep forgiveness.
Take whatever binds them - Take whatever holds them in uncertainty Take whatever holds them in bitterness - Take whatever fear defines them Take whatever anxiety grips them - Take whatever holds them captive And set them free.
God of Power, God of Might, Fill them with your Holy Spirit Renew both their soul and their faith. Lord, Hear our prayer today.
Pour out your Blessing on these your seeking servants May their spirit soar with the knowledge of Your love.
Through the waters of their Baptism Empower them to live faithfully To love their neighbor as themselves To reach out to the needy To help feed the hungry To help those who are hurting Lord, Hear our prayer today.
Bless them with Your presence, Your wisdom and your guidance, Let them be a sermon others can see. Bless their family both near and far Bless their skills, talents and abilities May they be used to bring you glory. Lord hear our prayer today
Fill them with faith and hope In the face of doubt and discouragement. Remind them daily we all belong to your way of Love God of Wonder, God of Grace Bless them with a Bethany Blessing To share the Good News with a hurting world Help them share the love of Christ Help them mind their business Help them find this a home away from home
God of Wonder, God of Grace Bless them with a Bethany Blessing In the name of Christ our Savior, Amen.
May we mind our business by being witnesses in the world who serve Christ... |
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